A new role for Esri's creative lab - Art Buyer

I have worked at Esri for 29 years and throughout that time, I have had the opportunities to create and occupy many roles to support the release of software products, create and manage hard and soft product documentation, as well project manage the early localization of ArcVIew. In 2001 I won a scholarship to the University of Redlands. After obtaining Masters degree in Management, I joined the Marketing department as Marketing Communication manager for 6 years. A year ago I was given another new opportunity by @JamesHitchcock to develop the new role of Art Buyer within the Creative Lab at Esri Headquarters. As folks become aware of the new role they often ask - "what does an art buyer do?". I thought I'd use this new forum to explain this role. The blog will be a great way to keep folks up-to-date with what creative projects I am involved in at Esri, as well as share interesting information about art, photography, and licensing.

An art buyer works closely with Creative Director (James Hitchcock) to procure required art (illustrations, photography, etc.), coordinate pre-production planning with teams to understand what assets are required and then obtain the assets or direct activities like photography that will create the needed assets. Other activities include: recommend the talents of photographers and illustrators that are appropriate for the execution of Esri's creative concepts under existing timetables and budgets. Negotiate cost and timing with the artist's representatives or licensing agency for the best product within budget.

Coordinate pre-production planning and purchasing of art work (photography and illustration) required for projects.

A couple of examples of my current work would be the development of photography assets for the career page update on Esri.com. Shortly Esri will launch a new Careers page. This project requires photo assets that represent the spirit and personality of current Esri employees. Esri's photographers @EricLaycock and @EricJohnson (EJ), along with Art Director @StefanieTieman and I photographed 65 employees - both stills and video to be used on the web page. I will post the link to that page when it goes live so you can see the amazing talents within the Creative Lab. Additionally, I am negotiating with agencies for stock imagery for use within Esri marketing collateral. Over the next year I will be taking courses to become a certified licensing executive which should further strengthen new creative opportunities for Esri.